


Avoidance

by Steph_R94



Series: Try Me [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 18:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1315288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph_R94/pseuds/Steph_R94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After her annoying discovery of more-than-friendly feelings for Noel, Lightning begins to avoid him. Noel puts up with this for only a week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avoidance

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:: The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and characters belong to Square Enix.

Lightning attempted to ignore the feel of Noel’s eyes on her as she waited for Serah. _‘Please don’t approach me; please don’t approach me.’_ She thought as her sister finally appeared at the stairwell. In her wish to avoid Noel, Lightning had agreed to go wedding dress shopping with her sister. The very person she was trying to avoid was sitting only feet away from her next to Snow. Noel Kreiss. Her sister’s and her own best friend. She avoided his eyes to the best of her ability as Serah turned to Snow and Noel.

“Please don’t kill each other…” Serah asked of them. Snow snorted and nodded. Noel simply raised an eyebrow. Lightning’s lips twitched at their typical reactions. Noel caught her staring at him. His blue eyes fixed on her green. She looked away quickly.

“Ready?” She asked her sister. Serah nodded and followed her rushing sister out the front door.

“She’s always been really secretive, but I’ve never known her to avoid anyone. It must be pretty serious for her.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t get it. She was fine with me last week.”

“Did you do anything that may have unnerved her?” Snow asked. Noel crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the left. Snow let the young man think.

“The only thing I did out of the ordinary was bandage her hands…” He said. Snow blinked. For a moment, he was just as confused as Noel sounded and then it clicked.

“Serah once told me that Lightning was always taking care of her when they were children…but no one was there for her. I bet…she’s not used to being taken care of.” Snow’s voice fell low. “She’s not used to being cared for…” Both men fell silent. Snow shook his head roughly. “Hell! I bet she shut out anyone that tried!” Snow looked up at Noel. His crystal blue eyes were serious and determined. “Let’s not let her shut us out anymore, yeah?” Noel nodded.

“Yeah.” He said softly.

“What are the two of you sitting here looking so solemn about?” Serah’s voice drifted from the front door. Snow twisted at the waist to look for his fiancée. Noel simply turned his head to try and find his best friend. Serah walked past the archway that separated the front door from the living room. “I forgot something.” Serah informed them.

“Wha-” Snow started. Serah cut him off by leaning in and pecking him on the lips gently.

“Ah…” Noel mumbled as he quickly looked away. Serah was his best friend. Snow was his friend. But their intimacy was not something he wanted to see. It reminded him to much of what he used to share with Yeul. He paused. The pain that usually accompanied the memory of her wasn’t there anymore. It was a dull sting. He pressed a hand to his chest. Was he really falling out of love with the woman he had sworn to love forever?

               “Were you able to get anything out of her?” Snow asked once she pulled away from him. Serah shook her head.

               “I asked, but she just told it was nothing.” Serah turned to her best friend who still sat on the couch. She frowned softly as she saw that he was staring at the television with a slightly disheartened expression. “Have you tried talking to her, Noel?” Noel shook himself out of his thoughts of Yeul and fading feelings.

               “Sure, I’ve tried loads of times. The minute she sees me coming, she vanishes,” Noel told them. He didn’t like not knowing what he had done wrong. Lightning seemed against him setting it right as well. She ducked into rooms each time she saw him coming, acted like she had things to do outside the house, or just monopolized Serah’s or Snow’s time to keep from talking to him. It bothered him. He felt like he was going to explode any minute.

               “I’ll try harder,” Serah promised. She turned toward Noel. “You do the same, okay? Don’t give up on her just yet.” Noel shook his head.

               _‘Never,’_ he promised in his thoughts. The gravity and intensity of his inner voice took him by surprise _. ‘When did she become so important to me?’_ He questioned himself. _‘When did her silence begin to hurt me?’_ All of these were questions he really didn’t have the answer too. They also lead to more questions. He shook his head.

               _“In Valhalla, your sister gave me a chance. She gave me hope.”_ Was it then that she became so important to him? She believed in him when no one else did. She opened up a doorway for a new world. He felt grateful to her in that moment. When Caius had shown up, he had felt protective and reluctant to leave her to face him on her own.

               _“She looked like a goddess out of some fairytale…”_ The words had felt just as familiar as she did. It had bothered him that he couldn’t place where he had met her or even how. He still couldn’t place it even now.

               “Noel?” Snow called out again. The young man had disappeared somewhere in his mind after Serah had left. The emotions that had flickered through his eyes were enough to make Snow dizzy. “Noel!” He tried again. Noel finally blinked and shook himself out of his thoughts. “Where’d you go, man?” Noel just gave him a slight smile.

               “Got lost down memory lane,” he shrugged.

               “Well, stay in the present. I’ve got an important question to ask you.” Noel raised his eyebrows. “Will you be my best man at the wedding?”

               “I’d be honored.”

* * *

 

 

               Lightning slipped into another room of the house at the first sign of Noel’s blue pant leg. She had been doing this for a week. She curled her hand into a fist on the door. _‘What the fuck is happening to me? I’m behaving like a damn coward! Or worse…a school girl with a crush!’_ And that was the problem. She had a crush on Noel Kreiss. She could feel it. Those fucking warm fuzzy feelings were the beginnings of emotions she did not need to feel.

               To make matters worse, he had noticed what she was doing. Now, it seemed as though he was deliberately seeking her out. True to his nature as a hunter, he was persistent with her. If he caught sight of her, he would follow her. He had almost backed her in a corner the other day, but Snow had bumped into him accidently. She had escaped and cursed herself so hard later.

               Lightning punched the wood of the door. She was five steps away from screaming “fuck it!” and throwing her hands up on the whole matter. Not only had Noel noticed, but he had also managed to get Serah and Snow on his side.

_“Did something happen between Noel and you?”_ Serah had asked her on Monday when they were sitting underneath the patio. It had been before Noel had noticed she was avoiding him. Lightning had shaken the question off easily.

               _“Hey, sis.”_ Snow had more of a direct approach when it came to handling problems between the members of his small family. _“Why are you avoiding Noel?”_ Her answer had been the typical, _“I’m not.”_ He had been about to call her bluff when Serah had called for him from their bedroom. The light bulb had went out and Serah hadn’t been able to reach it. Lightning had sighed in relief and darted away.

               Lightning poked her head from out of the empty bedroom. Her eyes widened as a black, yellow, and blue tribal shirt greeted her eyes the moment she poked her head out. She tensed and followed that colorful shirt up to the owner. She passed over the interesting necklace he wore, up his chin, lips, and nose to meet his blue eyes. She flinched at the predatory look in them. _‘Damn it…’_

               “The door gave me away, didn’t it?” Lightning asked. He didn’t answer her. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to unnerve enough to get her to make a mistake, to push her into a corner without really moving. It wasn’t a good idea. When caged, Lightning struck out. He stepped forward. Lightning refused to step back. She only tilted her head slightly to keep eye contact. Noel smirked unwillingly. She was just so stubborn. If she wasn’t a challenge, she wouldn’t be Lightning.

               “Why are you avoiding me?” He asked; his voice was low. The tone sent chills down Lightning’s spin. It was predatory and deep. He stepped closer. His chest brushed her chin. The smell of his aftershave and simply him reached her senses. She swallowed and forced herself to give him an inch. She stepped back to put some distance between them. He only stepped closer. _‘He’s going to be the death of me…’_ Lightning thought as she gave him another inch. He moved to step forward again. Her heart hammered in her chest now. _‘How fucked up is it that I’m enjoying this?’_ She panicked slightly as Noel moved one foot forward slightly. Her hand shot out and pushed against his chest to keep him back. She had meant just to touch him, but she had ended up shoving him back into the door. It slammed loudly on impact.

               “Stop it!” She scolded him and herself viciously. “I’m not some damn animal that you can push into a corner!”

               “It was the only way I knew to get your attention.” He told her. His voice was slightly heated. “I’ve tried to talk to you but you just vanish into another room!” Noel pushed a hand through his brunette locks. Lightning’s eyes fixed on the way his bangs fell back against his forehead as he brought his hand back down to his side.

               “This is hopeless…” She muttered to herself. _‘I can’t keep avoiding him obviously. And I can’t make this go away…’_

               “It may be, but we aren’t leaving this room until you tell me what in the hell it is that I’ve done wrong,” Noel said as he crossed his arms over his chest. He leaned back against the wall she had shoved him into. His back still hurt slightly from the impact, but he wasn’t going to let it show. He wanted to know why someone he considered his friend was going to such lengths to avoid him. He wanted to be able to sleep again without wondering what he had done wrong. And Noel wasn’t leaving until he knew. Lightning sighed.

               _‘But I can’t tell him either…’_ She finished her previous line of thought as she stared at him. His blue eyes bore into hers. They pleaded with her to let him in, to stop dodging him. Lightning swallowed. Those damn blue eyes made her want to lay everything out on the table. They were dangerous…so, she looked away. She focused on a space just beside his left ear.

               “You haven’t done anything wrong, Noel.”

               “Look at me when you say that then,” Noel returned. Lightning forced her eyes back to his.

               “You haven’t done anything wrong.” She told him again. His blue eyes were fucking traps. Her tongue seemed to itch with the want to tell him everything. She bit into it.

               “Do I really have to ask you again?” Noel asked her. Lightning sighed again and crossed her own arms over her chest. Silence fell over them. Noel sighed and stepped closer to her. Lightning tilted her head back again to meet his eyes. His smell once again invaded her senses. His blue eyes bore into hers intensely. She swallowed. “You say I haven’t done anything…but you avoid me and you won’t tell me what’s wrong. You won’t tell Serah. You won’t tell Snow…They’re worried about you. _I’m_ worried about you.” Lightning wanted him to stop. Those sweet words were what was bothering her now. His care for her was bothering her. It made her heart flutter in her chest. It made her want to blush. In this moment, she hated him.

               “If I open up to Serah, will you stop shoving me into a corner?” Lightning asked. Noel blinked. She sounded so tired. He stared at her for a moment. She had light rings underneath her green eyes. It bothered him, but what bothered him a little more was that he wanted her to open up to _him._ It really shouldn’t matter who she talked too as long as she got this off of her chest. So, he nodded.

               “I will, but if this is something you are saying just to get away from me I swear I will tie you up, lock you in your bedroom, and keep you there until you tell me what’s wrong.” Lightning’s eyebrows shot up.

               _‘Well, that sounded really sexual and counterproductive…’_ Lightning thought. _‘I think…he could make me a bondage girl…’_ Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly. _‘Right…huge no, no. Stop thinking like that. It’s not like he would actually do it anyway.’_ She held onto that thought.

               “You would not,” she said as Noel turned and opened the bedroom door. Noel glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked.

               “Try me,” he said as he walked out. Lightning stayed in her place as her mind threatened to take her down a trip to Naughty Village. The trip had just gotten started when Lightning shook her head roughly and slapped her hand to her forehead.

               “Right,” she shook her head again to shake the last memories. “Time to find Serah…”

 

* * *

 

               Lightning stood in front of Serah’s bedroom door. She could hear the beginnings of what seemed like Serah’s good time. She knocked on the door.

               “Serah?” She called after she heard Snow whisper, _“ignore them…”_ There was a loud thud from inside. Lightning covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing. She could see Serah shoving the larger Snow off of her at the sound of her voice. _“Serah’s worried about you,”_ the memory of the statement dampened her amusement. The door opened.

               “Sis?” It was Snow. Lightning raised her eyebrows. “How are you?” He asked.

               “Amused.” _‘Flustered because Noel just backed me into a corner. Aggravated because he backed me into a corner. Embarrassed because I have to talk to Serah about this. Annoyed because I’d been trying to avoid facing it. Ashamed because I’d worried all you so badly. Did I mention I was also a little horny because of the reason I was flustered? Yeah, I’m just a regular storm of conflicting emotions here.’_ Lightning thought as she looked at her future brother-in-law. He shifted awkwardly. “You?”

               “Snow, put a shirt on!” Serah called from the bathroom. Lightning looked over Snow’s large shoulder to see Serah poking her head out from the bathroom door.

               “It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.”

               “What?!”

               “She/I patched me/him up a long time ago,” both Snow and Lightning explained together. “Nothing even remotely sexual,” Snow finished. Lightning crinkled her nose.

               “Let’s never do that again, okay?” Lightning said as Serah stepped out from the bathroom. Snow looked over his shoulder at his fiancée. The adoration on his face bothered her just a little bit. It used to not, but now she wanted that for herself. Not Snow, of course, but someone that would adore her as much as Snow did her sister. Annoyance came back full force. _‘Damn it all to hell!’_ She growled mentally. _‘I’m five seconds away from stomping to Noel’s room, shoving him against the wall, and showing him just what the hell is wrong with me!’_ Her mind played that out. She saw her doing that and him pushing her away. It would ruin their friendship—not that her avoiding him hadn’t already damaged it.

               “What?” Snow asked as he finally turned his attention back to her. Serah stood at his side. Her pink head was tilted toward her expectantly.

               “Run on the same brain wavelength. It’s just disturbing,” Lightning recalled what it was they were never supposed to do again. Snow grinned.

               “There’s the old Lighting,” he said. Lightning rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Serah.

               “I need to talk to you without your fiancée or Noel hovering around.” Serah raised her eyebrows while Snow’s grin fell.

               “What’s wrong, sis?” He asked. His tone suddenly serious. Lightning glanced over at him. His blue eyes had lost their playful sheen in favor of a more serious air that looked all wrong on him.

               “Serah will tell you later,” Lightning told him. She knew her sister well enough to know that she never kept anything from Snow for long; and that he was too stubborn to let something like this go.

               “If you know that she’s going to tell me then why not just tell me yourself?” Snow asked her. Lightning raised her eyebrows. Serah shook her head.

               “Where are we going?” Serah asked as she stepped past Snow. Lightning shrugged. Serah followed her sister out of the front door to their home. The smell of the sea around them calmed Lightning’s nerves only a little. She walked out to the pier. Serah followed. “So, what’s been bothering you?” Serah asked as she stood behind Lightning.

               “I think I have a crush on Noel,” Lightning put out there. “And I don’t like it.” Lightning was so used to being in complete control of her emotions that this crush was really throwing her off.

               “You mean you’ve never had a crush before?” Serah asked. Lightning glared over at her.

               “Of course I have. It’s just they didn’t affect me like _this._ ” She spat out “this” as if it were the worst curse she could think of. “Besides, it’s not like anything can come from it. He’s my friend.” And there was the heart of the problem, Serah realized. They were friends. Lightning didn’t want anything to ruin that friendship.

               “You’ll never know if you don’t take a chance,” Serah pointed out. Lightning snorted.

               “Right.” Lightning looked away from her sister and toward the fading sun. It cast beautiful colors across the sky that reflected in the clear water. “Besides…” She said wistfully. “He’s not ready. He’s still got feeling for Yeul. They may be fading, but those feelings are still there. It would only confuse him.” There was nothing Serah could do, but listen to her sister’s quiet musing. Serah knew that her sister was right in a way. Noel wasn’t ready. _‘But…’_ Serah thought as she looked toward her sister, _‘when will he be? Are you willing to wait long, Lightning?’_ Serah reached out and held her sister’s hand. The only acknowledgement she got was a slight squeeze.

They stayed out on the pier until the sun fell completely from the sky. Lightning had been simply lost in thought while Serah had been standing silently beside her sister. It wasn’t until they had turned around to go back inside that Serah turned to her sister and spoke.

“Will you be the maid of honor at my wedding?”

“Of course I will,” Lightning returned easily.    

 


End file.
